Another Way, Another Story
by MoonlightEclipse3
Summary: Does anyone else ever wonder what would have happened if Xion had beaten Axel in front of Namine's mansion...
1. Chapter 1: Place to belong

**Another Way, Another Story**

 **Hey everyone. So for those of you that have played 358/2 days, you all know how it ends. I understand it set up the start of KH2, but I wish it could have ended differently. Like, what if Xion had defeated Axel instead? That's where the story starts off. I hope you all enjoy and give me lots of feedback. Thanks XD**

 **Chapter 1: A Place to Belong**

Xion was holding her keyblade limply in her hands, breathing heavily. Axel was standing with his shoulders slumped, but his chakrams still spinning in his hands. He raised his arm as if ready to attack again, but Xion couldn't even raise the keyblade to defend herself. Suddenly, he fell to his knees.

"You're… better then I thought you'd be." he said as he fell to the ground.

Xion slumped to the ground completely exhausted, but she knew she couldn't stay there long. The organization would be coming for her soon. She slowly stood up and created a dark portal. "You held back, didn't you Axel?" she asked him.

He laughed a little. "Maybe." he said as he passed out.

As Xion stepped through the portal, she saw Namine running outside.

"Xion, wait!" she yelled.

"I'll come back, promise." she said as the portal closed.

DiZ came walking out behind her. He looked at the unconscious Axel and shook his head. "He couldn't even defeat a puppet. The organization is making fools out of themselves. And why did you let her go?" he asked looking at Namine.

"She'll come back, I know she will. She knows that she needs to be with Sora so he can get his memories back." she explained.

"Humph, you're no better then they are. Nobodies cannot be trusted."

"She's not a true nobody." Namine countered.

"For you're sake, I hope she keeps her promise." he said as he went back to the mansion.

"She will…" Namine said to herself as she followed him.

A few moments later, Axel sat up. He looked around and didn't see anyone. He stood up and created a portal.

"Man, the boss isn't gonna be happy about this." he said as he stepped through.

Roxas was sitting up on the clock tower in Twilight Town, dangling his feet over the end of the ledge. He put his black hood down and sighed. "Where did I think I could go?". He laughed a little. "What a joke." He put his head down and sighed again. A few moments later, he heard footsteps next to him. He looked over and saw a hooded figure. "Xion!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, its me." she said, handing him an ice cream pop.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they ate their ice cream. Finally, Roxas spoke. "What happened to you, Xion?

"I went to see Namine."

"Who's Namine?" Roxas asked, confused.

"Someone who has control over Sora's memories. We were going to try to wake Sora, but then Axel showed up."

"What, Axel? What did he want with you?"

"He was trying to take me back to the organization. I guess Xemnas still needs one of us to keep collecting hearts. Axel said he was sick of me running and that he would keep coming after me. We wound up fighting…"

Roxas was shocked. "Why would Axel do that?"

"He was ordered to, but I think he wasn't really trying to win."

"What happened to him?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know. After I fought him, I came here."

Roxas thought for a moment. Then he jumped up excitedly "Xion, run away with me! We'll leave the organization together!"

She shook her head. "I can't. I belong with Sora, that's where I need to go." She looked at Roxas. "You need to be with him too. It's the only way he can truly wake up."

"No!" Roxas yelled. "It doesn't have to be like that! I'm my own person. Not Sora, not anyone else. And so are you, Xion.

"I'm just a puppet." she replied.

"I don't see you that way. I never did. You're my friend, Xion."

"I still have to do this, its for the good of everyone."

"How is it good for me? I already lost one friend today, I'm not losing another one. There has to be another way…" he said as tears started forming.

"Roxas, you're crying." Xion said, amazed. "DiZ said nobodies don't have feelings…"

He stopped crying. "Axel said we were special nobodies. Maybe that means we do have feelings.

They looked at each other for a minute, and suddenly they started laughing. After a moment, Roxas said, "Namine can fix Sora's memories and she needs you to do it, right?"

"Yes, I need to give Sora all of the memories of his that I've stored. But that means that I'll disappear. And that means you won't remember me."

Roxas thought about that. Finally, he snapped his fingers and said "What if we made you new memories as you gave Sora back his?

"How are we gonna do that?"

Roxas smiled. "By living our own lives, outside of the organization. We'll make so many new memories that you can give Sora back his and you won't disappear."

"But what about the organization? They'll come after us" she said.

"You can still use you're keyblade, right?"

She held out her right hand and a moment later a keyblade appeared.

"Alright then, we'll be fine." Roxas said confidently.

He held out his hand to Xion. She made her keyblade disappear and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, there's some people I want you to meet." he said as they walked down the tower stairs.

Roxas walked Xion down to the sandlot. When they got there, they saw Hayner and Pence practicing for the upcoming struggle tournament. They stood and watched for a little bit. Pence way trying really hard but he was no match for Hayner. Every time he tried to attack, hayner was faster. It was the same for trying to grab loose balls. After a minute Olette yelled "Time." and they stopped. "What's the final score guys?" she asked.

"47 for me and a whopping 3 for Pence." Hayner said triumphantly.

"Hey, you don't have to rub it in." Pence said dejectedly.

Roxas and Xion started walking over. "Hey guys, that looked fun. What do you call that?" Roxas asked.

"Well, lookie here." Hayner said smiling, "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I've been busy. Hey, this is my friend Xion. Xion, this is Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

"Hi guys." Xion said quietly.

"Nice to meet you." they all said in unison.

"So, this is you're "friend"?" Pence asked suggestively.

"Yeah…my friend." Roxas asked, a little confused.

"Anyway," Hayner interrupted. "this is called a struggle. There's a big tournament coming up and I'm gonna win." he said confidently.

Um, we could win too…" Pence and Olette said.

"Can we enter too, guys? Roxas asked.

"I don't know Roxas, I'm not really that good at fighting." Xion whispered.

"Come on Xion, this is a great chance to make some new memories."

"That's right. The Struggle tournament is an unforgettable experience." Olette added.

"What are the rules?" Roxas asked.

"Each person fights one on one to try to grab as many colored balls as the can in 90 seconds. Each person had a foam bat and tries to knock the opponent's balls off while defending themselves at the same time. The winner is the one who has the most when time runs out." Olette explained.

"Alright, sounds easy enough. Ready to practice?" he asked Xion.

"I guess so…" she said hesitantly.

Back at the organization, Xemnas was sitting with Sai'x and Xigbar awaiting Axel's return. A few moments later, he appeared empty-handed and near exhaustion.

"Where is the puppet?" Xemnas asked.

"She was a tougher fight then I anticipated."

"Man, that poppet is one tough customer." Xigbar laughed.

"I do not tolerate failure Axel. You know that better then anyone."

"I know boss, I won't underestimate her again."

No, you need to rest. You'll get you're chance soon enough." Xemnas thought for a second. "Demyx!" he called. A moment later a portal appeared and he stepped out of it.

"You rang, boss?"

"I need you to take care of something for me."

"Oh man, work?" he asked in a disappointed tone.

"Man, you two are really good." Hayner exclaimed when they were finished.

"You think so?" Roxas and Xion asked.

"Yeah, you guys will clean up at the tournament." Pence said.

"See, wasn't this fun?" Roxas asked Xion, smiling.

"Yeah, much better then I thought it'd be."

Suddenly, a portal opened up in front of them and Demyx appeared. "Man, I told them I am so not the person for this." he sighed

"A friend of yours?" Hayner asked.

"No, you guys better get out of here." Roxas warned as they ran off.

"I don't suppose you'll come quietly?" Demyx asked.

Roxas and Xion summoned their Keyblades. "I was afraid of this…" Demyx said as he summoned his sitar and jets of water appeared around him.

 **Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Feel free to review if you liked it XD**


	2. Chapter 2: First of many

**Hey everyone, I figure I should do this just to be safe so:**

 ***Disclaimer- I do not own anything Kingdom hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters or ideas portrayed in the Kingdom Hearts series. All my ideas and words are my own, except for a few selected quotes.**

 **Lol, that was quite long-winded. Anyway, on with the story**

 **Chapter 2: First of Many**

Demyx stood there, holding his sitar with a look of confidence on his face. "Last chance to give up guys." he said to Roxas and Xion. They looked at each other and came after him. "Oh, man!" he yelled as he began to play. "You asked for it guys." Suddenly, dozens of water clones appeared. "Dance water, dance!" he commanded in a slightly panicked voice.

Xion looked at Roxas. "Is he fighting us with water?" she asked.

"Didn't you ever work with him on missions?" Roxas asked, with a look of amazement.

"Don't underestimate me guys." Demyx called as his forms started attacking.

"Xion, grab one and start swinging!" Roxas yelled to her.

"Can we even grab these things?"

"Just trust me." he said as he started attacking clones with the key blade. Xion grabbed two of the clones and began of whirlwind of destruction.

Sure enough, they were solid enough to be used to destroy one another. Within seconds all the clones were gone. Roxas and Xion stood drenched, looking at Demyx with determination.

"You guys just don't know when to quit, do ya? Well, try this on for size…" he said as he began playing faster then before. His fingers were a blur on the strings as suddenly the entire sandlot filled with water clones.

"Xion, keep these guys off of me. I'm gonna go after Demyx."

"Okay, I'll try…" she said looking around and seeing the challenge ahead.

Roxas took off full speed, slashing and tearing at clones as he went. Xion was a blur as she had grabbed multiple clones and was taking out anything that came within range. As the lot began to clear, Roxas saw Demyx had backed into a corner and made a beeline toward him.

"NO!" Demyx screamed as Roxas came after him, and he tried swinging the sitar as a weapon.

"I don't think so." Roxas cried out as he ducked and came up with a massive upward stroke, which knocked Demyx way into the air. Instantly, the remaining clones vanished but Roxas went up after him and unleashed a massive air combo. Roxas landed on his feet but Demyx came crashing down, landing in a crumpled heap a few feet away. Eventually, he struggled back to his feet, still holding the sitar, albeit limply in one hand.

"I guess I'm left with no choice…" he sighed dejectedly and began to play a hauntingly slow melody. Suddenly massive jets of water came out of the ground and swirled together to create a giant water clone. He jumped on top of it and yelled down "Its either you guys or me, and I'm not ready to go yet!". A massive arm swung at Roxas, and he narrowly rolled out of the way. But Xion wasn't so lucky. It caught her completely by surprise as it smashed her against the far wall. She slumped to the ground, dazed and near unconscious. Demyx laughed excitedly. "Not so tough now, are you?" he asked mockingly .

"Xion!" Roxas cried out as he ran toward her.

"Got you now!" Demyx yelled as twin jets of water from the clone caught Roxas full in the back, sending him flying towards Xion. Roxas tumbled to the ground, stunned.

Demyx walked the giant clone over to where they were. "Why didn't you guys just come back?" he asked with regret as the clone raised a massive foot.

"Because…" Roxas started and with lightning speed, he rolled to his feet and cut the clone clean in half with the keyblade. "we don't need the organization anymore." he finished as Demyx tumbled to the ground again. As he tried to get to his feet again, Xion and Roxas were waiting on both sides.

"No, not like this!" he cried out, putting his arms up to shield himself as they both rushed at him. There was a blinding flash and an almost inhuman cry of anguish as Demyx slumped to the ground, his now-broken sitar laying not far away. He struggled to get up as Roxas walked over, but fell to his knees again as he slowly faded to the darkness.

"Why did you come after us?" Xion asked.

He laughed, a sad laugh before responding. "Xemnas said it was either bring you back or die trying. I didn't have much choice after that." He paused for a moment and started to fall forward. "Mabye it was for the best, you two are better off without the organization." He hit the ground and faded completely. Roxas stood there for a moment, then suddenly sank to his knees. "Demyx…" he said as tears started flowing down his cheeks.

A few minutes later, Hayner and Olette came back.

"Is it over guys?" he asked.

"Yeah its over, for now." Roxas said in a quiet voice.

"Who was that guy? And what did he want with you two?" Olette asked.

"He was a partner of ours. He was trying to get us to come back with him…"

"Well, spill! What happened to him?" Hayner asked impatiently.

"He disappeared…" Roxas said, looking away.

"Hayner, let it go. He doesn't wanna talk about it anymore." Olette whispered. She came over to Roxas. "It's getting late guys, want us to walk you two home?"

Xion and Roxas looked at each other. "Well…" Xion started.

"Wait, lemme guess. You guys are running away from these people and you need somewhere to stay. Well, no worries. You can stay with us." Hayner said excitedly.

"Hayner!" Olette yelled, clearly shocked

"You mean its alright?" Xion asked nervously.

Olette gave Hayner a dirty look. "Of course it is guys, you're our friends."

Roxas and Xion sighed with relief as the four of them walked out of the sandlot.

"It appears that another member has abruptly left our company" Xemnas said as he was looking out of the window of the work room. Axel and Luxord were playing cards at the table, and Xigbar was standing in a corner.

"Those two are tougher then we gave them credit for." Axel said regretfully.

"Ha, as if Demyx was really a challenge for them." Xigbar laughed cruelly. "The only thing he was good for was recon missions and playing that damn sitar."

"And guess who's going to be doing the recon from now on?" Xemnas asked casually, without turning around. "I want you to go to Twilight Town and find out what's going on there. Find out what those two are up to and report back."

Xigbar mumbled some rather nasty things as he left through a portal.

"Once he fills us in, I want you two to go down there and bring them back, by any means."

"I can handle this myself." Axel protested.

"What, afraid of a little friendly competition?" Luxord mocked.

Axel promptly flipped the table and stormed out of the room.

"Now, was that really necessary?' Luxord asked.

Axel ignored him.

 **Hope you all enjoyed chapter 2. This seems like it'll be a long story, but who knows?**

 **Remember to leave reviews and feedback if you liked it please. Thanks XD**


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